Dear Senate Judiciary Committee:
I am doctor in Washington State where assisted suicide is legal for “terminal patients” predicted to have less than six months to live. I write to alert you to our “expansion” issue.
Our law has been in effect for just four years. We have, however, already had proposals to expand that law to direct euthanasia of non-terminal people. See e.g., Brian Faller, "Perhaps it's time to expand Washington's Death with Dignity Act", November 16, 2011. Last year, there was also this article in the Seattle Times, suggesting euthanasia for people who cannot afford their own care, which would be involuntary euthanasia: Jerry Large, "Planning for old age at a premium," March 8, 2012 at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2017693023.html ("After Monday's column, . . . a few [readers] suggested that if you couldn't save enough money to see you through your old age, you shouldn't expect society to bail you out. At least a couple mentioned euthanasia as a solution.") (Emphasis added).
I am concerned with where this is going. I hope that Montana protects its citizens by enacting HB 505.
Richard Wonderly, MD
Seattle Washington
Friday, March 22, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
"This ad is appalling, even by the low standards of Compassion & Choices"
Dear Judiciary Members:
I am a probate attorney from Washington State
where assisted suicide is, unfortunately, legal.
I recently saw an ad by “Compassion and Choices”
which contained an over-the-top depiction of a doctor in handcuffs. This
ad is appalling, even by the low standards of Compassion in Choices.
(Compassion and Choices is a successor organization of the Hemlock Society,
originally founded by Derek Humphry. In 2011, Humphry was keynote speaker
and Compassion and Choices annual meeting here in Washington. He was also in the news as
a promoter of mail-order suicide kits after a 29 year old man used one of the
kits to commit suicide).*
HB 505 is needed to protect seniors and others from the
ultimate in financial and physical abuse. I urge you to vote YES.
Thank you.
Theresa Schrempp
Seattle, WA
* For supporting authority and more information, go here: http://www.montanansagainstassistedsuicide.org/2012/12/compassion-choices-is-successor.html
Labels:
Compassion and Choices,
HB 505
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
"Legalizing assisted suicide results in causing non-dying persons to be steered to suicide" - Support HB 505
Dear Members of the Montana State Senate Judiciary Committee,
I am writing in support of HB 505, which would clarify that physician-assisted suicide is not legal in Montana.
I am a doctor in Oregon, one of two states where assisted-suicide is legal. My personal experience in Oregon has shown me that legalizing assisted suicide results in causing non-dying persons to be steered to suicide.
Oregon’s assisted-suicide law applies to patients predicted to have less than six months to live. In 2000, I had a cancer patient named Jeanette Hall. Another doctor had given her a terminal diagnosis of six months to a year to live. This was based on her not being treated for cancer.
At our first meeting, Jeanette told me that she did not want to be treated, and that she wanted to opt for what our law allowed – to kill herself with a lethal dose of barbiturates. She informed me that she had voted for assisted suicide, and that is what she wanted.
I did not and do not believe in assisted suicide. I informed her that her cancer was treatable and that her prospects were good. But she told me she didn't want the treatment, she wanted “the pills.” She had made up her mind, but she continued to see me weekly. On the third or fourth visit, I asked her about her family and learned that she had a son. I asked her how he would feel if she went through with her plan. Shortly after that, she agreed to be treated, and her cancer was cured.
Five years later she saw me in a restaurant and said, “Dr. Stevens, you saved my life!” She realized that if I had believed in assisted suicide, that she would not have enjoyed her past 5 years. She is now alive and enjoying life over 12 years since her cancer diagnosis and successful treatment.
For her, the mere presence of legal assisted suicide had steered her to suicide.
I understand that you will be considering HB 505 next week. I encourage you to be aware of the dangers of assisted suicide, and that you will do your part to keep it out of Montana. Please vote yes on HB 505.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Stevens, MD,
Professor Emeritus, Radiation Oncology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon
I am writing in support of HB 505, which would clarify that physician-assisted suicide is not legal in Montana.
I am a doctor in Oregon, one of two states where assisted-suicide is legal. My personal experience in Oregon has shown me that legalizing assisted suicide results in causing non-dying persons to be steered to suicide.
Oregon’s assisted-suicide law applies to patients predicted to have less than six months to live. In 2000, I had a cancer patient named Jeanette Hall. Another doctor had given her a terminal diagnosis of six months to a year to live. This was based on her not being treated for cancer.
At our first meeting, Jeanette told me that she did not want to be treated, and that she wanted to opt for what our law allowed – to kill herself with a lethal dose of barbiturates. She informed me that she had voted for assisted suicide, and that is what she wanted.
I did not and do not believe in assisted suicide. I informed her that her cancer was treatable and that her prospects were good. But she told me she didn't want the treatment, she wanted “the pills.” She had made up her mind, but she continued to see me weekly. On the third or fourth visit, I asked her about her family and learned that she had a son. I asked her how he would feel if she went through with her plan. Shortly after that, she agreed to be treated, and her cancer was cured.
Five years later she saw me in a restaurant and said, “Dr. Stevens, you saved my life!” She realized that if I had believed in assisted suicide, that she would not have enjoyed her past 5 years. She is now alive and enjoying life over 12 years since her cancer diagnosis and successful treatment.
For her, the mere presence of legal assisted suicide had steered her to suicide.
I understand that you will be considering HB 505 next week. I encourage you to be aware of the dangers of assisted suicide, and that you will do your part to keep it out of Montana. Please vote yes on HB 505.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Stevens, MD,
Professor Emeritus, Radiation Oncology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon
Labels:
HB 505,
Jeanette Hall,
Ken Stevens MD,
steerage
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Not Dead Yet Supports HB 505
Dear Senate Judiciary Committee Member:
Not Dead Yet is a national disability rights group with members in Montana. On behalf of our members, I write to say that we urge you to pass HB 505, which is a short and simple bill to prevent legalization of assisted suicide and end the dispute over whether it is legal in Montana.
In the last two years, three other states have strengthened their laws against assisted suicide (Idaho, Georgia and Louisiana). Not Dead Yet of Georgia was involved in the Georgia efforts. We met with a woman, Sue Celmer, whose ex-husband had been assisted to commit suicide by Final Exit Network. He had previously battled cancer, but was cancer free when these suicide predators assisted him. Her story helped convey the urgency of legislation banning assisted suicide. We hope that Montana will join Georgia and the other two states to protect older people, our families and ourselves.
Not Dead Yet is a national disability rights group with members in Montana. On behalf of our members, I write to say that we urge you to pass HB 505, which is a short and simple bill to prevent legalization of assisted suicide and end the dispute over whether it is legal in Montana.
In the last two years, three other states have strengthened their laws against assisted suicide (Idaho, Georgia and Louisiana). Not Dead Yet of Georgia was involved in the Georgia efforts. We met with a woman, Sue Celmer, whose ex-husband had been assisted to commit suicide by Final Exit Network. He had previously battled cancer, but was cancer free when these suicide predators assisted him. Her story helped convey the urgency of legislation banning assisted suicide. We hope that Montana will join Georgia and the other two states to protect older people, our families and ourselves.
Labels:
disability,
HB 505,
Not Dead Yet
Why HB 505 is Needed Now
By Margaret Dore, Esq.
A. Baxter is Confusing
The Baxter case did not legalize physician-assisted suicide. Suicide proponents, including Dr. Stephen Speckart, have conceded the lack of legality.[1] Baxter is, however, confusing with even lawyers unable to agree on its meaning.[2]
B. The Confusion has Allowed Suicide Proponents to Claim that Assisted Suicide is Legal
This confusion has allowed suicide proponents to claim that assisted suicide is legal. Indeed, they have convinced the Board of Medical Examiners to issue a statement implying that assisted suicide is legal. This is "Position Statement No. 20," also called "Board Advisory No. 20." [3]
C. Suicide Proponents are Recruiting Doctors; Doctors and the Public are at Risk
Suicide proponents have been actively recruiting doctors to perform assisted suicides with the false assurance that it is legally safe to do so.[4] A doctor so recruited could find himself sued or even convicted of a homicide. On the other hand, the present confusion could frustrate a civil and/or criminal action by an aggrieved party, such as a son and daughter outraged that the doctor has caused their father's suicide.
With the present situation, it’s hard to know legally what will happen. Meanwhile, there is no assurance that any such suicide will be voluntary and/or not the product of abuse or coercion, for example, in the inheritance situation. There is no assurance that the victim will not be a person with many quality years left to live, if only he or she had not been steered to suicide.
D. The Solution
If instead, the law is clarified that physician-assisted suicide is not legal, there will be a clear tool for law enforcement, the medical profession and other interested parties to protect citizens from the negative consequences of assisted suicide legalization (pressure, steerage, people throwing their lives away, etc.).
HB 505 does this by clarifying Montana’s existing prohibition against “aiding or soliciting suicide” in 45-5-105. The bill states:
"A person who purposely aids or solicits another person to commit suicide,
E. Tell Your Senator to Vote "Yes" on HB 505
This is why HB 505 is needed now, to stop the confusion to protect both doctors and the public. Tell your Senators to vote "Yes" on HB 505!
Footnotes
[1] In 2009, Dr. Speckart testified in support of SB 167, which had sought to legalize assisted suicide in Montana. He said: "[M]ost physicians feel significant dis-ease with the limited safeguards and possible risk of criminal prosecution after the Baxter decision." See transcript at http://maasdocuments.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/speckart-transcript.pdf
Senator Anders Blewett made a similar concession, stating: “[U]nder current law, ... there’s nothing to protect the doctor from prosecution.” See transcript at http://maasdocuments.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/blewett_speckhart_trans_001.pdf
[2] See e.g. The Montana Lawyer, November 2011, Cover Story: "The aid-in-dying debate: Can a physician legally help a patient to die in Montana? Court ruling still leaves the issue open to argument, (with pro-con articles by Senator Anders Blewett and Senator Jim Shockley with Margaret Dore, available at http://maasdocuments.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/mt-lawyer-cover-story_001.pdf
[3] The current version of "Position Statement No. 20" is available at http://bsd.dli.mt.gov/license/bsd_boards/med_board/pdf/physician_aid_in_dying.pdf
[4] See letter from Stephen Speckart and George Risi, to all active Montana doctors, dated March 5, 2012 (falsely stating that “no basis exists [under Baxter] to prosecute a physician for providing aid in dying [physician-assisted suicide]”). Available at http://maasdocuments.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/risispeckart_ltr_001.pdf This letter attaches the original version of "Position Statement No. 20"
[5] HB 505 can be viewed here: http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2013/billpdf/HB0505.pdf
Labels:
HB 505
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Why Do So Many Disability Groups Oppose Physician Assisted Suicide?
by: James D. McGaughey, Executive Director,
Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities.
(Adapted from an article that originally appeared in the
International Social Role Valorization Journal in 2010.)
In 2009, a proposal that would have legalized Physician Assisted
Suicide was introduced in the Connecticut General Assembly. The
language of that proposal paralleled legislation being pursued in other
states by Compassion and Choices, a successor organization to the
Hemlock Society. When the proposal was withdrawn without a public
hearing, Compassion and Choices moved to the Courts, seeking a judicial
ruling that provisions of the Connecticut Statutes prohibiting assisting
a person to commit suicide should not be applied to physicians who
write lethal prescriptions for their patients. Their lawsuit was
dismissed. Now, in 2013, it appears that another attempt to legalize
Physician Assisted Suicide is being made in Connecticut. While the
details of the current proposals are unavailable as of this writing,
they will likely be similar to proposals that are being pursued in other
states – proposals that have drawn stiff opposition from disability
advocates in those states.
Proponents of legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide argue that it’s
all about compassion and personal autonomy. Citing examples of
individuals who have ended, or who apparently want to end their lives by
taking lethal doses of prescribed drugs, they propose adoption of the
euphemistic term “assistance with dying”, and suggest Physician Assisted
Suicide be seen as a compassionate alternative to suffering intractable
pain or endless, intrusive, de-dignifying medical interventions. If
all we hear is their side of the story it seems reasonable enough.
After all, shouldn’t we have the option of avoiding an ignoble end?
Shouldn’t our doctors be able to prescribe drugs that will do the job
quietly and professionally? Isn’t this a matter of personal choice?
What’s wrong with just having the option?
Leading disability rights groups see plenty of problems with it. A
number of well respected organizations, including the National Council
on Disability, the American Association of People with Disabilities
(AAPD), the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the National
Spinal Cord Injury Association, the World Institute on Disability,
Justice For All, TASH (formerly called The Association of the Severely
Handicapped), the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF),
and grass roots groups such as ADAPT and Not Dead Yet have all adopted
positions opposing legalization of assisted suicide. In fact, members
of many of these groups have been teaming up with local independent
living centers and state-level advocacy coalitions to challenge the
state-by state campaign to promote Physician Assisted Suicide.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
" I support House Bill 505, which clearly states that assisted suicide is not legal"
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20130313/OPINION/303130037/On-our-minds-Fires-suicide-bill-breweries
I needed to travel out of town for a day and a half. We agreed he would stay at a local care facility in my absence. Once there, nurses began administering morphine. After the first dose, my husband knew that he had been overdosed and typed out a message to call respiratory therapy. None came that day. Over the next few days, he struggled to breathe and desperately struggled to remain conscious to communicate, but the nurses kept pushing the morphine button and advised our children to do the same. My children and I did not understand the extent morphine would repress the respiratory system until later. This was neither palliative care nor managing pain; this was hastening death. He was effectively euthanized against his will. He did not get his choice. It is traumatic, still, to realize his last communications were attempts to get help.
As illustrated by my husband's case, doctors and nurses already misuse or abuse the power they have. The stakes are too high to consider expanding their power by legalizing assisted-suicide. The recent guest column by Dr. Stephen Speckart and other doctors claims that assisted suicide is already legal. For that reason, I support House Bill 505, which clearly states that assisted suicide is not legal.
— Carol Mungas,
Great Falls
My husband, Dr. James E. Mungas, was a respected physician and surgeon here in Great Falls. He developed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and I took care of him. His mind was clear and thought processes unimpaired. He was against assisted suicide and euthanasia.
I needed to travel out of town for a day and a half. We agreed he would stay at a local care facility in my absence. Once there, nurses began administering morphine. After the first dose, my husband knew that he had been overdosed and typed out a message to call respiratory therapy. None came that day. Over the next few days, he struggled to breathe and desperately struggled to remain conscious to communicate, but the nurses kept pushing the morphine button and advised our children to do the same. My children and I did not understand the extent morphine would repress the respiratory system until later. This was neither palliative care nor managing pain; this was hastening death. He was effectively euthanized against his will. He did not get his choice. It is traumatic, still, to realize his last communications were attempts to get help.
As illustrated by my husband's case, doctors and nurses already misuse or abuse the power they have. The stakes are too high to consider expanding their power by legalizing assisted-suicide. The recent guest column by Dr. Stephen Speckart and other doctors claims that assisted suicide is already legal. For that reason, I support House Bill 505, which clearly states that assisted suicide is not legal.
— Carol Mungas,
Great Falls
Friday, March 15, 2013
Oregon's New Report Consistent with Elder Abuse
By Margaret Dore, Esq.
Oregon's assisted suicide statistics are out for 2012.[1]
This annual report is similar to prior years. The preamble implies that the deaths were voluntary (self-administered), but the information reported does not address that subject.[2]
Oregon's assisted suicide law allows the lethal dose to be administered without oversight.[3] This creates the opportunity for an heir, or someone else who will benefit from the patient's death, to administer the lethal dose to the patient without his consent, for example, when the patient is asleep. Who would know?
The new Oregon report provides the following demographics:
"Of the 77 DWDA deaths during 2012, most (67.5%) were aged 65 years or older; the median age was 69 years. As in previous years, most were white (97.4%), [and] well-educated (42.9% had at least a baccalaureate degree) . . . ."[4] Most (51.4%) had private health insurance.[5]
Typically persons with these attributes are seniors with money, which would be the middle class and above, a group disproportionately victims of financial abuse and exploitation.[6]
As set forth above, Oregon's law is written so as to allow the lethal dose to be administered to patients without their consent and without anyone knowing how they died. The law thus provides the opportunity for the perfect crime. Per the new report, the persons dying (or killed) under that law are disproportionately seniors with money, a group disproportionately victimized by financial abuse and exploitation.
Oregon's new report is consistent with elder abuse.
Footnotes:
[1] The new report can be viewed here: http://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year15.pdf and http://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/year-15-2012.pdf
[2] Id.
[3] Oregon's law can be viewed here: http://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Pages/ors.aspx
[4] Report cited at note 1.
[5] Id.
[6] See "Broken Trust: Elders, Family, and Finances," a Study on Elder Financial Abuse Prevention, by the MetLife Mature Market Institute, the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, and the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, March 2009.
Labels:
Elder abuse,
Oregon
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Pass HB 505 - Rick Blevins, MD
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013303120037
The Montana Legislature is considering the question of physician-assisted suicide. The Senate has rejected an Oregon-style bill that would have legalized such a practice. The House has passed House Bill 505, which will end the confusion about assisted suicide in Montana. I am in favor of this bill and wish to clarify misconceptions expressed in a Viewpoint article published March 4.
HB 505 seeks to clarify the relevant law, which has been misinterpreted as a result of the Montana Supreme Court Baxter decision of 2009. This decision did not legalize physician assisted suicide, contrary to claims made by authors of the Viewpoint article. The court only stated that a patient’s consent, if given, may be used as a legal defense. Lawyers are scratching their heads about the meaning and the ramifications of this decision which is why the Legislature should act to provide needed clarity.
HB 505 only addresses the aiding or solicitation of suicide, including physician-assisted suicide. It specifically “does not include end of life palliative care in which a dying person receives medication to alleviate pain that may incidentally hasten the dying person’s death or any act to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment” authorized by the Montana Rights of the Terminally Ill Act. The quotes are directly from the text of HB 505.
Please contact your senators and tell them to end the confusion. Please tell them to vote “yes” on HB 505.— Rick Blevins, M.D.,
Labels:
assisted suicide,
Baxter,
HB 505
Don’t make Washington’s assisted-suicide mistake
http://mtstandard.com/news/opinion/mailbag/don-t-make-washington-s-assisted-suicide-mistake/article_10022e80-8b75-11e2-b398-001a4bcf887a.html?print=true&cid=print
My husband and I operate two adult family homes (elder care facilities) in Washington State where assisted suicide is legal. I am writing to urge you to not make Washington’s mistake.
Our assisted suicide law was enacted by a ballot measure in November 2008. During the election, the law was promoted as a right of individual people to make their own choices. That has not been our experience. We have also noticed a shift in the attitudes of doctors and nurses towards our typically elderly clients to eliminate their choices.
Four days after the election, an adult child of one of our clients asked about getting the pills (to kill his father). It wasn’t the client saying that he wanted to die. At that time, our assisted suicide law had not yet gone into effect. The father died before the law went into effect.
Since then, we have noticed that some members of the medical profession are quick to bring out the morphine to begin comfort care without considering treatment. Sometimes they do this on their own without telling the client and/or the family member in charge of the clients care.
Since our law was passed, I have also observed that some medical professionals are quick to write off older people as having no quality of life whereas in years past, most of the professionals we dealt with found joy in caring for them. Our clients reciprocated that joy and respect.
Someday, we too will be old. I, personally, want to be cared for and have my choices respected. I, for one, am quite uncomfortable with these developments. Don’t make our mistake.
Elizabeth Benedetto
My husband and I operate two adult family homes (elder care facilities) in Washington State where assisted suicide is legal. I am writing to urge you to not make Washington’s mistake.
Our assisted suicide law was enacted by a ballot measure in November 2008. During the election, the law was promoted as a right of individual people to make their own choices. That has not been our experience. We have also noticed a shift in the attitudes of doctors and nurses towards our typically elderly clients to eliminate their choices.
Four days after the election, an adult child of one of our clients asked about getting the pills (to kill his father). It wasn’t the client saying that he wanted to die. At that time, our assisted suicide law had not yet gone into effect. The father died before the law went into effect.
Since then, we have noticed that some members of the medical profession are quick to bring out the morphine to begin comfort care without considering treatment. Sometimes they do this on their own without telling the client and/or the family member in charge of the clients care.
Since our law was passed, I have also observed that some medical professionals are quick to write off older people as having no quality of life whereas in years past, most of the professionals we dealt with found joy in caring for them. Our clients reciprocated that joy and respect.
Someday, we too will be old. I, personally, want to be cared for and have my choices respected. I, for one, am quite uncomfortable with these developments. Don’t make our mistake.
Elizabeth Benedetto
Labels:
assisted suicide,
Washington State
Possible expansion of physician-assisted suicide laws in other states should concern Montana
I am doctor in Washington state where physician-assisted suicide is legal for “terminal patients” predicted to have less than six months to live. I disagree with the letter by Kristen Wood (letter, Feb. 28) that expansion is not a concern in this context.
In Washington state, our assisted suicide law has only been in effect for four years. We have, however, already had proposals to expand that law to direct euthanasia of non-terminal people. See e.g., Brian Faller, “Perhaps it’s time to expand Washington’s Death with Dignity Act,” Nov. 16, 2011. Last year, there was also this article in the Seattle Times, suggesting euthanasia for people who cannot afford their own care, which would be involuntary euthanasia: Jerry Large, “Planning for old age at a premium,” March 8, 2012 at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2017693023.html (“After Monday’s column, . . . a few (readers) suggested that if you couldn’t save enough money to see you through your old age, you shouldn’t expect society to bail you out. At least a couple mentioned euthanasia as a solution.“)
I am very concerned with where this is all going. I hope that Montana does not follow our lead to legalize assisted suicide.
Richard Wonderly,
Seattle, Washington
Saturday, March 9, 2013
"He made the mistake of asking for information about assisted suicide"
http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/legalizing-assisted-suicide-allows-physicians-to-pressure-patients/article_5726f258-84fb-11e2-9707-001a4bcf887a.html
Last year, my brother, Wes Olfert, died in Washington state, where assisted suicide is legal.
When he was first admitted to the hospital, he made the mistake of asking for information about assisted suicide. I say a mistake, because this set off a chain of events that interfered with his care and caused him unnecessary stress in what turned out to be the last months of his life.
By asking the question, he was given a “palliative care” consult by a doctor who heavily and continually pressured him to give up on treatment before he was ready to do so. It got so bad that Wes actually became fearful of this doctor and asked me and a friend to not leave him alone with her. Justified or not, Wes was afraid that the doctor would do something to him or have him sign something if she would find him alone.
In fact, even though he was on heavy doses of narcotic pain medications and not in a clear state of mind to sign documents without someone to advocate for him, this palliative care MD actually did try to get him to sign a DNR or “Do Not Resuscitate” form without his Durable POA or any family member present. Fortunately, his close friend/POA arrived at that moment to stop this from happening. Some of the other doctors and staff members seemed to also write Wes off once they learned that he had asked about assisted suicide.
I am writing to urge your readers to prevent assisted suicide in Montana. I do this on behalf of myself and my other brother, Ron Olfert, of Sanders County, who also died last year. He was strongly opposed to assisted suicide.
Please contact your legislators and ask them to vote “yes” on House Bill 505.
Marlene Deakins, RN
Tuscon, Arizona
Last year, my brother, Wes Olfert, died in Washington state, where assisted suicide is legal.
When he was first admitted to the hospital, he made the mistake of asking for information about assisted suicide. I say a mistake, because this set off a chain of events that interfered with his care and caused him unnecessary stress in what turned out to be the last months of his life.
By asking the question, he was given a “palliative care” consult by a doctor who heavily and continually pressured him to give up on treatment before he was ready to do so. It got so bad that Wes actually became fearful of this doctor and asked me and a friend to not leave him alone with her. Justified or not, Wes was afraid that the doctor would do something to him or have him sign something if she would find him alone.
In fact, even though he was on heavy doses of narcotic pain medications and not in a clear state of mind to sign documents without someone to advocate for him, this palliative care MD actually did try to get him to sign a DNR or “Do Not Resuscitate” form without his Durable POA or any family member present. Fortunately, his close friend/POA arrived at that moment to stop this from happening. Some of the other doctors and staff members seemed to also write Wes off once they learned that he had asked about assisted suicide.
I am writing to urge your readers to prevent assisted suicide in Montana. I do this on behalf of myself and my other brother, Ron Olfert, of Sanders County, who also died last year. He was strongly opposed to assisted suicide.
Please contact your legislators and ask them to vote “yes” on House Bill 505.
Marlene Deakins, RN
Tuscon, Arizona
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